Appearance and Personality
Henry was said by chroniclers to be good-looking, red-haired, freckled, with a large head; he had a short, stocky body and was bow-legged from riding. Often he was scruffily dressed. Not as reserved as his mother Matilda, nor as charming as his father Geoffrey, Henry was famous for his energy and drive. He was also infamous for his piercing stare, bullying, bursts of temper and, on occasion, his sullen refusal to speak at all. Some of these outbursts, however, may have been theatrical and for effect. Henry was said to understand a wide range of languages, but spoke only Latin and French. In his youth Henry enjoyed warfare, hunting and other adventurous pursuits; as the years went by he put increasing energy into judicial and administrative affairs and became more cautious, but throughout his life he was energetic and frequently impulsive.
Henry had a passionate desire to rebuild his control of the territories that his grandfather, Henry I, had once governed. He may well have been influenced by his mother in this regard, as Matilda also had a strong sense of ancestral rights and privileges. Henry took back territories, regained estates and re-established influence over the smaller lords that had once provided what historian John Gillingham describes as a "protective ring" around his core territories. He was probably the first king of England to use a heraldic design: a signet ring with either a leopard or a lion engraved on it. The design would be altered in later generations to form the royal seal of England.
Read more about this topic: Henry II Of England
Famous quotes containing the words appearance and/or personality:
“February is a suitable month for dying. Everything around is dead, the trees black and frozen so that the appearance of green shoots two months hence seems preposterous, the ground hard and cold, the snow dirty, the winter hateful, hanging on too long.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)
“The monk in hiding himself from the world becomes not less than himself, not less of a person, but more of a person, more truly and perfectly himself: for his personality and individuality are perfected in their true order, the spiritual, interior order, of union with God, the principle of all perfection.”
—Thomas Merton (19151968)